Santander

MADRID | The Corner | Everything went by the book: after Spain’s largest bank Santander chairman Emilio Botin died on Wednesday, his daughter Ana Patricia Botín (53) was appointed to succeed him. Her long career in finance, closely supervised by his father, took her to the UK, where Santander bank gets 20% of its profits (Spain accounts for 14%). Britain’s third most powerful woman according to the BBC has now become Spain’s most influential in finance.

MADRID | The Corner | Santander will issue contingent convertible bonds (CoCos) worth up to 1,500 million euros. In order to reach its aim, the bank will start a road show to sound out the market interest and, in case of suitable conditions, it will start the operation on Monday or Tuesday next week with the collaboration of Credit Suisse, HSBC, JP Morgan, Société Générale and UBS. This issue of CoCos will be the third that the Spanish bank carries out this year, after the issue of 1,5000 million euros in March at an interest rate of 6.25% and another one in May when it sold CoCos worth 1,500 million dollars at 6.375%.

MADRID | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | United Kingdom has displaced Brazil, which displaced before Spain as first market by benefit contribution to Banco Santander. Of the 2,750 million € earned in the first six months (+22% over the first half of 2013), 20% comes from the British market. Brazil contributes the 19% of benefits and Spain recovers share until reaching the 13%. And then there are United States (9%), Mexico (8%), Chile (7%), Poland (6%), Germany (5%), Portugal (2%) and other countries from Europe and Latin America (11%).

MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban | Spain’s unemployment rate climbed to nearly 26 per cent in 1Q, official data showed Tuesday, despite the positive growth figures the government is proudly showing. Markets are weighing the effects of those numbers on the country’s sluggish recovery, the same day Spanish bank Santander announced an 8% profit increase in 1Q. Spain only accounts for 14% of the entity’s profits, while the UK is already 20%.

MADRID | The Corner Team | Three Spanish financial institutions set the example of the country’s incipient recovery just after the banking bailout program came to a clean end: Santander gained 90% more than last year; Caixabank, 118% and BBVA, 30%.

MADRID | The textile giant from Galicia has increased its stock capitalisation from $35 million in March of 2008 to $83 million in five years. Regarding Santander, its market value grew from $71 million against $125 million, according to a report by PwC.